Chapter 324: 'Collecting the Corpse', No Next Time

The phylactery shattered where the fracture line swept across it, black smoke billowing out in a frantic torrent. The agonizing wails never ceased for a moment; no matter how desperately Varma’s final consciousness struggled to cling to life, nothing could be undone.

While the phylactery granted the lich "immortality," it also became her absolute, fatal weakness. Once the phylactery was broken, the soul was annihilated, leaving no chance to transition into any other form of existence.

"How is it?"

Wang Yu stowed his Conqueror alchemical revolver and turned to ask Aivia, who stood atop the activated magic circle. The girl had set this trap specifically for Varma; as a master of space, she had waited for the moment of anomalous spatial fluctuation to strike a killing blow.

"Confirmed kill."

Aivia let out a sigh of relief, her tense, solemn expression softening into a smile as she turned to answer Wang Yu.

Even after seeing the phylactery sliced in two, the girl could not have been one hundred percent certain of Varma's death, but now she was sure the enemy was beyond dead. Above her head, in the void, an object had appeared: the curious item, Blood-Red Marker.

This item had been captured by Aivia through a spatial rift the moment she used her array to bisect Varma’s phylactery. Curious items only detach from their owners once the holder has completely perished.

"Phew, that was truly difficult to kill. Even with the Professor, whose strength completely overwhelmed her, she almost got away. Thanks to you."

Patting Aivia on the shoulder, Wang Yu curled his lip. Setting aside the fact that this lich was powerful enough to have killed him had she been more ruthless, the most important thing was that she was simply too hard to put down.

That is how this world works. As power scales upward, destructive force does not necessarily become more terrifying, but one thing is certain: it becomes increasingly difficult to kill, especially those powerhouses who are unbound and fight for no specific cause.

Beyond the level of mid-tier Archmages, Great Wizards, and Great Knights, the powerful develop an endless array of life-saving measures. Sometimes, defeating them with raw strength is not difficult, but killing them when they are determined to flee increases the difficulty exponentially.

Legendary powerhouses are even more absurd; if they do not wish to die, there is essentially nothing anyone can do to them. History records a case where over a dozen legendary figures hunted a single peer, only finding a chance to set an inescapable trap after forty years, finally finishing off the lone wanderer who had no fixed residence, family, or friends.

"The function of this curious item... so that’s how it is. She used this to track down Zig and Noel."

As the girl sensed the information automatically transmitted by the item upon claiming ownership, she understood how the Dragon-Worshipping Cult had found them. It seemed their luck was decent; the cultists still did not know their current location.

They must have tracked Aerielian’s movements to the Undead Plane and then used the Blood-Red Marker to follow the bloodline trail to the Sky Mechanical City.

"Boom!"

A giant dragon descended beside them, its body shifting and shrinking until Zig stood there in human form.

"I must thank you both again. If not for you two, honestly, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

Zig bowed sincerely to Wang Yu and Aivia. Although their relationship had long since reached a point where thanks were unnecessary, Zig did not hide his heartfelt gratitude.

"Well, the result is what matters. Professor, you don't need to worry; the Dragon-Worshipping Cult likely still doesn't know your location. The lich relied on a curious item to find you."

Aivia materialized the Blood-Red Marker before Zig and Wang Yu, explaining how the object could track targets based on their bloodline.

"It seems the absolute nature of curious items is as consistent as ever; it never errs in its intended effect. The direction it pointed was correct—it was indeed Noel and me—but the power containing 'His' aura pointed at the wrong target, landing on you, Wang Yu."

Zig pondered for a moment, realizing why the enemy hadn't taken Noel immediately but had waited for a while before leaving, which had given them the chance to arrive and rescue them.

The enemy had intended to wait for Zig to arrive and capture both heretical dragons in one fell swoop, and Varma, possessing the Dragon Slayer, could truly have done it. If that power hadn't pointed at Wang Yu, the situation might have reversed entirely. It was terrifyingly close.

"That thing's power belongs to 'Him'?"

Wang Yu was slightly stunned. He had sensed the sword that suddenly pierced his body, but he hadn't expected it to be 'His' power. He hadn't felt anything at all.

"It seems deities can make mistakes, but curious items do not. The absolute nature of such unique existences should be higher than that of gods. I just wonder whose 'hardness' is greater: the absolute nature of a mental-targeting curious item or my own will."

He tapped his chin. It was currently certain that even gods could not interfere with his will, and since curious items had a higher priority than gods, he wondered how they compared to his own special nature. Wang Yu intended to find out when he had the chance.

"There is something wrong with this lich's strength. Liches should be at the legendary tier. While this one was powerful, she was nowhere near legendary status, or we would have been dead long ago. To have only this much strength in a space so suited for undead creatures is very strange..."

Aivia adjusted the Perfect Fractal Lens over her right eye, synthesizing the data collected during the battle, and gradually reached a conclusion.

"Indeed, liches rarely leave their phylacteries unattended. Their shells are not fragile and provide excellent protection for that fatal weakness."

"So, the decrease in her strength was likely because she wasn't using her own body, intending to prevent her precious original form from being destroyed by the alchemical mechanical legion while attacking the Sky Mechanical City, leaving only the phylactery to escape."

Zig pondered and reached the same conclusion as Aivia.

"That means there is a masterless legendary lich body left in the Undead Plane? That’s good stuff. Aivia, let me use that curious item to try something."

Wang Yu had a sudden inspiration and asked the girl to let him use the item.

"What are you planning to do?"

The girl was curious about what he wanted to do with the item. Was he planning to search for some related bloodline?

"The person whose bloodline is closest to someone is, of course, themselves. If I can get a fragment of that lich's phylactery, couldn't I use this item to find its body? Legendary undead materials—can't miss out on that."

Wang Yu ran toward the spot where the phylactery had been shattered, explaining his plan. It left Aivia and Zig momentarily stunned; his train of thought was truly unique. Could he really do that?

But it didn't seem impossible. When it came to curious items, who could say for sure?

The two followed Wang Yu to the site of the shattered phylactery. They watched as he picked up the fragments, ground them into powder in his palm, and scattered them into the void.

In Wang Yu’s eyes, the phylactery powder fell onto the curious item, and brilliant red threads of light extended from the Blood-Red Marker, pointing in a specific direction.

Time to go collect Varma’s "corpse."

...

Above the Endless Sea, on an island located inside the Eternal Vortex and relatively close to the continent, a group of people bearing reptilian or draconic features gathered in a temple at the center of the island. They knelt around a giant dragon sculpture, chanting prayers to "Him" and the dragons.

The lifelike stone statue seemed to possess the true pressure of a dragon. Even as a dead object, its aura inspired awe. The dragon's eyes flickered with light, granting the sculpture a vitality beyond its own.

A closer look would reveal that this dragon shared many similarities with the sub-dragon Varma had transformed into. Or perhaps, it should be said that Varma’s sub-dragon form was a degraded version of the dragon depicted by this statue.

"Crack, bang!"

A sudden sound interrupted the prayers of the Dragon-Worshipping Cultists. The statue they worshipped underwent a sudden change: the light in the dragon's eyes abruptly extinguished, and its chest split open.

Stones fell away, and a shriveled, withered heart rolled out from within.

The cultists immediately fell into chaos, and clamorous voices erupted.

"The statue has cracked! Lady Varma's mission has failed!"

"It's over! Lady Varma cannot transform into a true dragon! What do we do? The other dragons will devour us!"

"How could this happen? We sacrificed the lives of hundreds of companions to undo the contingency left by that silver dragon! Why did it end like this? Is there only death!? I am not reconciled, I am not reconciled!"

"The flames have gone out too. Lady Varma is dead. She was a legendary-tier lich! Who could have killed her... Could another existence like that silver dragon have appeared?"

"..."

The cultists were in a state of turmoil, all gripped by fear and panic over their bleak future. Varma's death was completely beyond their expectations.

Previously, they had chased the silver dragon Aerielian to the Undead Plane, sacrificing their lives to leave a coordinate there, and had learned of the existence of two other dragons.

Varma had immediately petitioned the leader of the Dragon-Worshipping Cult for the curious item, the Blood-Red Marker, and launched a hunt for the two dragons closely related to Aerielian.

If successful, "His" blessing would have allowed Varma to become a true dragon, and they would have bathed in her glory.

But now, after the sacrifice of hundreds of companions, the result was the fall of the legendary sub-dragon lich Varma, the failure of the mission, and the loss of that precious curious item. Everyone was plunged into despair.

"No, we still have a chance. As long as we can use other means to confirm the location of Lady Varma's death, we can know where those two dragons are. If we inform our former enemies of this news, perhaps we can find a glimmer of hope."

One cultist forced himself to calm down and made the most rational analysis he could at that moment.

"That's right, there is still a chance."

"That shall be the way, yes, it can be done, it can be done..."

"..."

His words swiftly became a lifeline for the other cultists, seized upon and echoed with desperate affirmation.

Yet, at the very moment they rejoiced in this flicker of hope, the entire temple shuddered violently, erupting in a thunderous roar as its roof was abruptly and brutally obliterated, the defensive arrays etched upon it dissolving like parchment.

The members of the Dragon Cult tilted their heads in terror and bewilderment, beholding the sight above the jagged breach—a presence they loathed and feared to the very depths of their souls.

A slender, elegant silver dragon hovered in the sky, wings beating rhythmically, her draconic eyes burning with a cold, glacial fury that scorched the air.

Unburdened by the suppression of the undead plane, her boundless pressure descended like a crushing mountain, the power of her "Domain" driving everything below toward inevitable ruin.

The cultists collapsed to their knees, stripped of control; they did not call upon "His" blessing, for they lacked the strength even to stand before Aerylianthe the Silver, yet submission offered no salvation.

"This is my error, my negligence; the safeguards I left behind were insufficient, allowing Zieg and Noelle to be threatened by the likes of you. That this burden, which should have been mine alone to bear, found them instead is truly..."

Her voice, cold as hoarfrost, echoed through the chamber as a sphere of destructive energy coalesced before her.

"With further preparations, I shall utterly eradicate the Dragon Cult, and such a thing shall never come to pass again."

The silver dragon unleashed her power, and in the next heartbeat, the entire island, along with every member of the cult upon it, was reduced to nothingness by a glorious pillar of silver light that tore the heavens asunder.